


Out of Time

by PaxieAmor



Series: Lady Iron of SHIELD [9]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (2012), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: AU 1945, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, F/M, What the hell are you doing Paxie?!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-07-07
Updated: 2014-01-29
Packaged: 2017-12-18 01:06:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/873950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PaxieAmor/pseuds/PaxieAmor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Toni Stark is willing to die for a lot of things; proving that results in a trip she never expected to take. Trapped in 1945, Toni has to come face to face with the man she loves in 2013, the woman he loves now...</p>
<p>And the father she never knew.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks my dear friend Sci for listening to me bitch about this fic for the past few weeks. You're a doll, Sci!
> 
> And as always, thanks to Kay.
> 
> No real reason, just thanks :)

Today was _terrifying_.

Steve had sent her a text, asking if they could get together and talk. It’d been almost three months since she’d said anything to him that wasn’t Avengers related. She’d said yes.

She had been heading to the meeting, which she couldn’t help noticing was on neutral ground; a coffee shop she liked, but not the tower or her penthouse. She was just about to go inside when she became aware of a red and blue blur fly past her. Spider-Man. Where was he going, why hadn’t she been alerted to a problem…

That’s when she saw him; Doctor Octavius, the metal armed monster that everyone tended to call Doc Ock. She hated when Peter went up against him; he was brilliant and motivated, which spelled dangerous in her mind. She knew Peter was capable, knew that he could likely handle things… but she didn’t want to leave him to do it alone. Funny how a 16-year-old brought out the mother in her.

She was in the suit before she could think any better of it and as she few after them, though she should probably call Steve and let him know what was going on. She started to tell Jarvis to call him, when Jarvis informed her that Steve was already on the line.

"Steve!" she yelled, dodging her way through traffic. "Sorry, I’m gonna be late, Peter's..." His words took her breath away.

"I know; I saw Spider-Man, then I saw you fly past, and I'm right behind you.” Toni brought up the rear cameras in her suit (she liked to pretend no one knew they were there, because how else would she be able to check out Hawkeye’s ass in his suit, or Natasha’s in hers, without dying a horrible death), and sure enough, Steve (not Captain America, she noticed, but figured his shield was on his back as always) was on his motorcycle, not twenty yards behind her. “We can talk later." Toni allowed herself a short smile that slowly morphed into an almost wicked grin.

“Looking forward to it.” She somehow actually heard Steve smile back at her through the phone.

“Me too.”

They caught up to Spidey and Doc Ock two blocks later and the sight made Toni almost get sick in her suit; Ock had one of his metal claws around Spider-Man’s throat and was smashing him into a wall.

“Peter!” Toni never called him anything other than Spider-Man when they were out in the field, but today was different, terrifying. Something in her felt frightened, like if she wasn’t there to guard Peter, he wouldn’t be there anymore… and god, did that feeling make her want to crawl into a hole and die.

That’s when she saw it; the ball of light forming behind Octavius. She didn’t know if he created it, but since he seemed to be preparing to throw Peter into it, she at least knew that he was aware of its presence.

“Cap,” she says as calmly. “I’m going to need a longer rain check.”

“Toni, what are…” Her actions are faster than Steve’s mouth, because Ock is hurling Peter towards the light, which seems to be getting bigger and appears to be sucking objects in, and Toni’s not losing him like this. She grabs Steve’s shield off his back and puts it in front of her, heading to get between Peter and the light. She doesn’t trust just grabbing him, because the suction looks strong and if she has to hold him, that takes her down by one thruster at the least and there just isn’t time to get power diverted properly.

She gets between Peter and the light, positioning herself so Peter slams right into the shield. She puts her hands and feet against the inside of the shield.

“Cap! Catch!”

“Toni, don’t!” She puts the thrusters on full power, launching the shield, and Peter, into the waiting arms of Steve Rogers.

Sending herself straight into the light, watching in horror as it closed behind her.

The next thing she knew, she was falling, flailing a little as the wind whipped past her limbs, whistling through the metal joints of her suit. Getting Peter out of harm’s way drained her reserves a bit and she was having problems getting the suit going again.

"Jarvis!" she yelled, keeping her limbs outstretched to slow her fall. It wasn’t  working as well as she’d like. "Jarvis, I need power to thrusters like now!"

"I'm trying!" The voice was Jarvis', but it wasn't at the same time. It was... somehow, it was female. "What the hell happened to my voice?!"

"Can we figure that out when I'm not plummeting to my death?!"

"Yeah, yeah, keep your pants on!" Toni didn't have time to give a smart ass reply to the smart ass reply (what the hell was that?!); the thrusters came to life less than a second later, forcing her skyward once more. Moments later, Toni had stabilized and was flying once more. "I trust that was satisfactory, Miss Star-"

His(her?) words were cut off by something slamming hard into Toni's back. Toni was more surprised, however, by the fact that whatever it was let out a slightly pained yelp; she hit a person, who was now clinging to her.

"What the hell do you think you’re doing?!" they yelled, their voice muddled slightly by the wind rushing past.

"Hey!" Toni yelled with anger. "You hit me!" She rolled herself over to face the person and get a better grip on them.

She found herself face to face with Steve Rogers.

“Son of a Bitch.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: This chapter contains mentions of a canon character death. This death is canon in the comics, but not currently in MCU. To be more specific, the Spider-Man comics. You have been warned.
> 
> To anyone who has no idea what I'm talking about, turn away now or prepare to be spoiled.

Toni Stark was a huge Doctor Who fan; she and Howard had watched episodes together once or twice when she was younger, she had attended conventions in a bad ass Dalek costume that looked like a real one and concealed her identity, and while she was going to miss Matt Smith terribly, she was eagerly awaiting the announcement of who would be taking his place. She also was a huge fan of River Song. 

River was likely the closest thing Whovians were ever going to get to a female Doctor and Toni... wasn't okay with that, but she liked River all the same. She often heard her called "Moffat's Mary Sue", to which she would always reply by asking whomever she was talking to what they thought of RTD's Mary Sue. She never named a specific character, but no matter who she talked to, there was always a name they gave her and a "yeah, I'll give you that."

It was always a different name; Toni expected that was quite meaningful.

Back to River Song; there was a quote of hers from _The Forest of the Dead_ that she always liked: "You know when you see a photograph of someone you know, but it's from years before you knew them. It's like they're not quite finished; they're not done yet."

This quote came to Toni right then because the Steve Rogers she was clinging to was not hers. He had the muscles and everything, but she could tell by his face that this Steve hadn't gone endured the pain and heartbreak that hers had, hadn't fought through the battles that hers had.

To put it frankly, he wasn't done yet.

Which could only mean that Toni had somehow landed in 1945.

"What the hell are... are we flying?!" Steve’s voice brought her back to the present, in a manner of speaking.

"Yeah, we are," Toni replied without letting Steve go. "Where are you heading, I can drop you off."

“How are we flying?!” Toni considered that for a moment.

“How open minded are you feeling right now?”

“I’m about to storm a HYDRA base with nothing but a handgun and a shield, lady, does that answer your question?!”

So, that's where we are, she thought as she slowly descended from the sky, landing what she hoped was a safe distance from the aforementioned HYDRA base. This was the night Steve made himself really known to the world, the night he saved 200 people and faced the Red Skull for the first time. She landed and lifted up her faceplate to let him finally see her. His eyes lit up in that way of his, the way that said "you are beautiful, but I don't want to say so and get punched." Perfect time to drop the bombshell.

"I'm from 2012."

"...What?

"I'm from the year 2012. I got here via some sort of portal."

"Look, lady, I'm willing to believe a lot of things, but you can't really expect..."

"Your name is Steven Grant Rogers, you lied on your enlistment forms five times and you're here to save one James Buchanan Barnes." Steve just stared at her as she went on. "You met him when you were kids, you saw him getting ganged up on by three guys twice your size and jumped in to try to help anyway... and the last time you saw him was the day you finally got to join the army."

"How do you..." Here was the big one, the thing that could either make it or break it with him and Toni knew it. She took a deep breath and made the leap.

"I know because you told me." His eyes widened, but she didn't let him speak just yet. "Look, I want to tell you everything, but I can't, I shouldn't... but please trust me..." He looked at her for a moment.

"In your time," he said slowly. "Do we win this?" She didn't hesitate.

"Yes." He grinned.

"Then let’s not do anything to mess that up." He held out his hand. "Captain Steve Rogers, miss...?" She took his hand and gave it a firm shake.

"Rhodes," she replied; this certainly wasn't the first time she'd used Rhodey's name for something and it likely wouldn't be the last. "Antonia Rhodes."

"Well, Rhodes,” he continued with a grin. He didn’t add “miss” onto it and she liked that. “Got any other tricks up those metal sleeves?"

"Normally, I'd say yes, but I'm low on power right now..."

"Power levels at fifty percent and falling, Miss Rhodes," Jarvis informed her, causing Steve to jump in surprise. The AI had picked up on Toni's ruse and gone with it. She loved it when a plan came together. "Suggest powering down all non essential programs."

"Do it, but don't you dare include yourself in that."

"Shutting me down would save the most power, Miss..."

"I need you. Stay on." She paused. "Any idea why you sound like a girl right now?"

"Mr. Parker was playing with a copy of my code recently..."

"Yes, I said he could, he wanted to try making his own..." She bit her bottom lip in thought. "Is it possible that code, or at least his current alterations, was activated when I came through the portal or whatever it was?"

"It's possible."

"I have next to no idea what you two are talking about," Steve said quickly. "But can we save it until we get done here?"

"Keep your pants on, Captain," Jarvis replied with her newfound sass. "I was stripped of my manhood and can't decide if I'm happy about it."

"Jarvis, as soon as we have the power for extra operations, scan the code and make any alterations you wish, but keep the original in case we need it later."

"Very good, Miss Rhodes." Toni turned to Steve.

"Now then, Captain," she said with a grin. "What is it you want me to do?"

"What can you tell me?"

"Not much," she admitted reluctantly. "I only know for sure what my Steve told me…"

"He probably doesn't remember much," Steve replied with a grin. "What is he, 90?" Toni nodded, hoping her eyes didn't betray her too much, if at all. She didn’t want this one to know what her Steve had gone through, not before he absolutely needed to.

“Let’s start with my suit; in the most basic terms, it’s a high powered suit of armor with weapons and flight capabilities powered by arc reactor technology.”

“What’s arc reactor technology?”

“Something very futuristic that I will be more than happy to explain to you later… fuck, Jarvis! How’s the reactor holding up, am I going to drop dead in the foreseeable future?”

“What?” Steve asked, his eyes wide.

“The arc reactor is intact, Miss Rhodes,” Jarvis assured them. “You are in no immediate danger.”

“Okay, cool.” Toni looked at Steve. “Sorry, what were we talking about?”

“You’ll explain that to me later?”

“Not much to explain; I have an arc reactor in my chest, it’s keeping me alive.”

“What’s killing you?”

“That would take longer to explain, and we don’t have the time.” He started to protest, but she put a hand up to stop him. “We don’t have time. I’ll explain it when we get out of here.” She wasn’t used to being the one to push for a plan of attack; it was freaking her out. “What do you want to do?”

After talking it over, they decided the best plan would be for Steve to go in alone and Toni to be his back up; if it looked like things were going bad, she should step in and help as best she could. Toni didn’t necessarily like the idea, but it was the best one.

"If my mother could see me now," Steve mused.

 "I bet she'd be proud of you," Toni replied, wishing she could say more to cheer him.

“Tells me that in every letter she sends!" Toni looked at him, praying her face didn't give away her surprise. "Got one from her yesterday, saying how proud she was of her baby boy..."

"She's somewhere safe then?" Steve nodded.

"Part of my deal with Senator Brandt; she's got a real nice apartment in Brooklyn, live-in nurse to take care of her, bodyguard..." He smiled. "She freaked a little when I came home after the serum, but  
she was so happy that I wasn't sick anymore..."

Toni let him ramble as she processed this information; Sarah Rogers died when Steve was fifteen. There was a chance that Steve had lied on his enlistment papers (obviously), but Toni didn't think he would lie  
about that; after she and Steve had hung out that first day, he had called and asked for her help in looking up members of his old team. She helped him find every single one, or at least their surviving  
relatives. He never once asked about his mother, if she had been taken care of after his "death". As far as she was concerned, he didn't ask because he already knew she was gone.

This Steve had his mother still, and try as she might, Toni could not remember one instance of her Steve saying his mother was alive during the war. What she knew about time travel told her that her memories should have changed to fit this new happenstance. They didn't. Which told her things had just gotten slightly more complicated.

Forget time travel; Toni doubted she was even in the same universe anymore.

“Still with me, Rhodes?” Steve asked, shaking Toni from her thoughts.

“Yeah, sorry,” she replied, searching for an explanation. “Just memories, you know? My mother died a long time ago…”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Toni just nodded. “I better get going.”

“Right. First sign of a problem, I’m coming in.”

“Sounds good.” With that, he headed off. Toni watched until she couldn’t see him anymore, her heart tight in her chest.

“Am I doing the right thing, Jarvis?” she asked quietly.

“I believe so, Miss Rhodes; you’re not trying to shelter him from what may come and you’re not telling him everything.”

“I feel like I should.”

“Understandable.”

“But I shouldn’t, should I?”

“I don’t think that would be wise, Miss.” She nodded her agreement.

“Thanks, Jarvis.”

“You’re welcome.”

"It doesn't seem right to call you Jarvis anymore," Toni remarked with a grin. "You now being a female and all."

"As much as I hate to admit it, Miss Rhodes," the AI replied, "I am apt to agree. It doesn't feel right."

"Probably because of Peter's programming... Did he give you a name of any sort?"

"There is something... "Generic Work/Entertainment Network"..."

"Gwen," Toni replied softly. She remembered Gwen Stacy all too well. Her death was before Peter moved in with the Avengers, but the nightmares were frequent and terrifying. They lessened slightly when Toni was able to prove to Peter that Gwen was dead before the Green Goblin threw her off the roof, and he been the one to kill her... but Peter still had them.

Just like Toni still had nightmares about Yensin.

Just like Steve still had nightmares about Bucky.

"Is Gwen acceptable, Miss?" 

"Yeah... yeah, that'll work just fine."

***

Toni hated waiting. Waiting was the hardest part and they’d been at it for a while now. She looked towards the HYDRA base and frowned; it was quiet. Too quiet.

"Gwen, how long did Rogers say he'd be?"

"He didn't give an approximation, Miss."

"And how long has he been gone?"

"Half an hour." She got to her feet.

"Gwen, do a DNA scan for Rogers and Barnes... make sure they're at least together."

"Scan complete, Miss," Gwen said moments later. Toni put her helmet back on so she could see the results, which she didn't like one bit.

"I'm assuming the red dot is Barnes and the blue is Rogers?"

"Yes Miss Rhodes."

"Any reason why blue dot is that far away from red dot?"

"Captain Rogers made a stop in one area for a short amount of time; he started moving just after I locked onto his signal."

"The other soldiers," Toni realized, relaxing slightly. She'd forgotten about that, Steve saving the other soldiers captured by HYDRA. She focused on the map, watching the blue dot head towards the red and now hearing the sounds of men fighting for their lives. Everything was going according to plan now; all she could do was continue to wait.

"Are you alright, Miss?" Gwen asked, a hint of caution in her voice.

"As brilliant as he is," Toni replied, "Octavius shouldn't be able to send me to Disney Land, let alone into the past and possibly an alternate universe... and yet, here I am." She removed the helmet and looked up at the clouded night sky, sighing softly. "Which makes me think someone else is responsible."

"Perhaps it was an accident, Miss? Some sort of temporal anomaly?" Toni felt her heart crash low into her stomach; her chances of getting home were already slim, but if this had been some sort of cosmic accident, she just kissed those chances goodbye. Before she could reply, she felt her helmet start to buzz and heard alarms going off.

"Gwen, what's going on?" she asked.

"A self district sequence has been activated," Gwen replied, bringing up more circles (yellow this time), indicating the locations of explosives. The red and blue dots of Bucky and Steve were next to each other now, which did little to put Toni at ease. “It started five minutes ago, there’s less than three minutes left.”

“Why are we only picking it up now?”

“I’m in 1945, you really expect me to work properly?” Toni shook her head.

"How far are they from an exit, will they reach one before the sequence ends?"

"If they are not stopped in any way, it is possible..." As if to spite them, the red and blue circles stopped moving, and were joined by a new circle. A black one.

"Gwen..."

"There's no way they'd make it now, Miss..."

***

James Barnes had been a science fiction fan since he was young. He spent a lot of time in the Asimov's candy store, reading magazines with their young son Issac, who was writing science fiction stories of his own now. Even with that in mind, however, Bucky was still completely taken aback by his best friend being twice his size when he'd been barely half the last time Bucky saw him.

It was fucking weird.

"What happened to you?" Bucky asked incredulously, his eyes still the size of silver dollars and his mind still not believing that this hulk of a man was really his old friend.

"I joined the army!" came the reply, and there it was, that sarcastic son of a bitch ('Beg pardon, Mrs. Rogers,' he thought to himself) that he knew and loved.

“Did it hurt?”

“A little.”

"Is it permanent?"

"So far."

"Does your mother know?"

"Can we have this discussion later?" Bucky heard gunfire and explosions coming from all around them, and decided it would be best if they waited until later.

"Yeah, sure."

"Good, we got to get back to Rhodes before she comes in after us." Before Bucky could ask who Rhodes was, they met Johann Schmidt and… well, the guy took his face off and fuck, that was creepy as hell.

“You don’t have one of those, do you?” Bucky asked. Steve didn’t answer, which really spoke volumes about the whole thing.

That was five minutes ago; in the two minutes since, Bucky found himself and his recently enlarged friend (that sounded less dirty in his head, which clearly meant he was still out of it) about to walk across a thin metal catwalk that looked like it would fall the moment anyone tried to step onto it. Bucky, who had had enough excitement for one day, made Steve go first.

He regretted this instantly, as the catwalk fell apart when Steve was two steps away from the end, and Bucky was still completely on the other side.

“There’s gotta be a rope or something!” Steve yelled, looking around.

“Just get going,” Bucky yelled back. “I’ll catch up!”

“No, not without you!” Bucky cursed under his breath; of course Steve wasn’t going to leave without him, not after coming in to get him…

“Rogers, I thought I told you were didn’t have time for lollygagging!” The voice was feminine and robotic, but not the weirdest thing Bucky had seen or heard that day.

Neither was the flying robot that emerged through the flames, scooped up Steve and made a beeline for him.

“Going my way, soldier?” she called, extending her free arm to him. He grabbed on without hesitation.

“Is there any other way to go, doll?” She pulled him close to her and he held tight with everything he had, guessing that Steve was doing the same. She flew faster than the plane that delivered him from the States and, despite the explosions, a hell of a lot smoother. Soon enough, they were out of the building and high in the sky.

“Miss,” a second female said urgently. “Power levels are…”

“I know what they are!” yelled the first; Rhodes, Bucky guessed. “Just keep going!”

“What are the power levels?!” Steve yelled louder.

Before she could answer, they all started falling out of the sky.

“Gwen, what the hell!” If there was a response, Bucky didn’t hear it. “Fuck me!”

“Later,” he yelled to her. “If we survive!”

“Gwen, use the main power source… I know what might happen, just do it!” The robot shot to life again, saving them from crashing but not flying at anywhere near the altitude as before. “Coming in for a landing!” Rhodes cried, flipping onto her back and holding the two men against her chest. “Brace for it!”

The landing was not the smoothest Bucky had ever had, but as he rolled off Rhodes’ chest, he was happy to find that he was all in one piece. He heard Steve let out a groan, feeling the ground shake a little as he too rolled off of Rhodes.

“Rhodes?” Steve asked, sitting up slowly. “Rhodes, are you alright?”

“Miss Rhodes is unconscious, Captain!” the other female voice—Gwen, Bucky remembered—said urgently. “The suit is almost out of power, there’s a latch at the side, pull it now!” Bucky looked around and quickly found the latch, pulling it hard. The suit fell away from the body, folding into what looked like a suitcase right before Bucky’s eyes… if he’d been looking that way.

His eyes were on the gorgeous dame in front of him, the one that had just flew in and saved him and Steve. The light that had been glowing brightly in the middle of her suit was scarily embedded into the center of her chest.

It was almost out.


	3. Chapter 3

Whatever Toni was lying on was not as comfortable as her bed at home, but she’d certainly laid on a hell of a lot worse. Her sleep would have been more restful, however, if some loudmouth would have been kind enough to put a sock in it.

“Are you trying to tell me,” Loudmouth boomed, “that this… this _woman_ pulled you and Barnes out of that fire in some sort of… flying suit?”

“I don’t know who you are, Mac,” Toni muttered, her eyes opening a crack; everything was bright and it hurt. She closed her eyes again. “But if you ever call me a woman in that tone of voice again, I’ll turn you into one.” She opened her eyes again, and things were less blinding this time around. She was surrounded by people; Steve and James were there, as was a gentleman in uniform and a man in a gray suit whom Toni was choosing to ignore for the moment. “And I’ll nail the proof of the deed to the nearest wall.”

“Is that a threat?” Loudmouth, the uniformed gentleman, asked.

“Goodness no, Sir. That’s a promise.” Gray suit barked out a laugh.

“Looks like you found someone that’s not scared of you, Colonel,” he remarked, and it was his voice. His voice that she hadn’t heard in twenty years, his voice that would normally make her stand at attention and she had to fight not to do it right then. The voice of Howard Stark; the voice of her father.

“I need a scotch,” she muttered. “If anyone tries to water it down, I will kill them.”

“That we can agree on, young…” The look Toni shot at the Colonel shut him up instantly. “Ma’am.” She held back a grin at his annoyed expression and allowed herself a look at Howard.

He looks just like those old photographs she has stored in the front attic; light gray pinstripe suit, hair styled so you could just barely see the traces of curls, mustache perfectly trimmed, that smooth ‘come at me, motherfucker’ grin on his face… this, apparently, was the man her mother had fallen in love with. The man her Steve Rogers considered a friend.

Seriously, where was her scotch?

Almost like magic, a glass of amber colored liquid appeared on the table next to her. This person, this lovely scotch baring person, was her new best friend. She looked up at the person who handed her the glass and smiled.

“Thanks Barnes.” He nodded.

“You helped save my life, Miss Rhodes,” he replied. “Least I can do is offer you a drink.”

“Just Rhodes, please,” she insisted. “Or Toni, I guess. Rhodey, if you want.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Gwen’s the only one who…” She went pale, remembering what had happened. “Oh god, Gwen…”

“Is perfectly fine, Miss Rhodes,” a now familiar voice chimed in; Toni looked to her right to see her briefcase resting on a nearby table, Gwen’s voice emanating from it. “I put the suit into hibernation mode once we’d removed you from it…”

“Is that what the briefcase thing is?” her dad… no. Howard asked. “A hibernation mode?”

“It’s also a lot easier to carry that way.”

“Can we get back to the matter at hand here, please?” the Colonel continued. “Are we really just supposed to believe that she's from the future?”

“Hey,” Toni replied with a shrug. “I'm supposed to believe that I'm in the past; we're all having difficulties today.” Howard was laughing, and god was that weird. It was an honest to god amused laugh; it wasn’t the laugh of someone who was making fun of someone else, or that of a person laughing because they had to… Howard Stark was laughing because Toni Stark made him laugh.

Toni had never heard him laugh like that before.

“Look, Miss Rhodes,” the Colonel said calmly as possible. “I’ve seen some insane things since this war began, but I have to draw the line at time travel…”

“What’s the date today?” Toni asked.

“November 16th, 1943,” Steve supplied helpfully.  He looked at his watch before answering, letting Toni know that it was likely in the early hours of the morning. She nodded her thanks (she was off by two years, but no one’s perfect), resisted smiling at him like she normally would have; this Steve isn’t hers, nor has he ever been.

“November, November…” she muttered, attempting to access what little history she learned from her Rhodey, the history nerd, for something that would help. “You said the 16th… oh! I know! Sometime today, American bombers are going to strike a hydro-electric and heavy water facility in Norway…”

“No one is set to strike any facility in Norway,” the Colonel replied dryly, cutting her off.

“And yet, it’s going to happen.” The Colonel opened his mouth to reply, only to be interrupted by the arrival of another woman.

“Excuse me sir,” the pretty young woman with reddish brown hair, and in uniform, said urgently. “We just got a wire from Norway; 160 American Bombers located a German power station, a…” She looked at her notes. “Hydro-electric facility and heavy water factory. The facility has been destroyed.” Everyone turned towards Toni, who had her arms crossed over her chest and was wearing her best “checkmate motherfucker” grin.

“ _Now_ do you believe me?”

“Alright, Miss Rhodes,” the Colonel replied, exasperatedly. “You have me reasonably convinced that you are a time traveler from the future.” The woman, whom Toni would have to be stupid not to recognize as Agent Peggy Carter, raised an eyebrow at Toni.

“Long story, Agent Carter,” she replied, enjoying the shocked expression that appeared on Carter’s face. “Perhaps we can discuss it over tea?”

“Are you attempting to mock me?” Carter asked, eyes narrowing slightly.

“Not at all; I really would love a cup of tea and would be willing to brew a pot if I’m allowed out of bed.” She started to sit up and noticed something she wished she wouldn’t have. “Am I hooked up to a car battery?”

“I am sorry, Miss Rhodes,” Gwen said quickly. “But you were running dangerously low on power, the trip took so much out of you…”

“It was all we could think of,” Howard continued. “Gwen…” He hesitated, as if he wanted to say something he wasn’t sure Toni wanted anyone to know. “Gwen told me it would be perfectly fine.” Toni nodded, content to leave it at that.

“Is the charge holding, Gwen?” she asked.

“It is, Miss.” That was good; once the reactor was charged, Toni wouldn’t need to do another charge unless it was an emergency, even if she did use the suit again. She should really look into getting that particular problem fixed…

“What is that thing anyway?” Steve asked, interrupting her thoughts.

“The short answer,” she replied, “is that it’s a specialized pace maker that can do more than keep pace.”

“And the long answer?” Howard asked.

“Is something I’d rather not get into.” She waited for him to push; Howard always pushed her, always wanted to know everything, always refused to take no for an answer.

“Sure, no problem.” Toni did her best to not look completely shocked, likely failing miserably.

“How long until I can unhook, Gwen?” Toni asked. She’s not panicking, she’s _not_. She’s also not swallowing back the taste of coconut and metal that ruined Piña Coladas and Coconut Cream Pies for the unforeseeable future as she fights off one of the anxiety attacks she’d hoped she’d gotten over.

It’s official; she fucking hates it here.

She decides to skip the tea and downs the whiskey that James was so kind to have brought to her. It burns her throat as it goes down, because how long has it been since she’s had a drink? A long time; she hadn’t even taken the drink Natasha offered her back that the penthouse after the whole thing with North Brother Island and Rose, the one that she said would warm her up quickly…

Rose. What was going to happen to Rose if Toni was trapped in 1943…

“Rhodes, you with us?” James asked. There was worry in his voice; Toni was doing her best not to think about the implications of that.

“Yeah, sorry, what?” She was better at talking once upon a time.

“You will want to keep the battery plugged in overnight, Miss Rhodes,” Gwen replied. “That will insure a complete charge.”

“Awesome.” She was about to say more when she noticed Steve talking quietly with Peggy in a corner of the room. As Peggy put a hand to a cut on his face that hasn’t fully healed yet, Toni saw him smile at her in a way she thought that no one but her had ever seen.

And wow, doesn’t that just break her broken heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Toni's proof that she's from the future is based on actual events, which can be found [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/November_16), just scroll down a little bit. The thing is, that one sentence you'll read is all I've been able to find on that event! So, the reasoning behind the attack is, as far as I know, completely made up. If anyone finds any more information on it, please let me know!


	4. Chapter 4

After watching one of his best friends take a hit meant for him before vanishing into a ball of light, Peter Parker decided that he was done being mad at Captain America.

He was still upset with him, mind you, but even he could see that he was _finally_ trying to make up for it; Peter couldn’t fault him for that. He just hoped it wasn’t too little too late.

“Octavius says he doesn’t know where the vortex came from,” Steve said after exiting the SHIELD interrogation room. “He says it just appeared and he figured it was as good of a way as any to get rid of Spider-Man.”

“Brilliant,” Coulson replied with an eye roll. Steve shrugged.

“He’s not Doctor Octopus for nothing.”

“Mother hugger, did you just make a joke?”  Steve looked over at Peter, whose mouth was hanging open. Steve would have objected that he makes jokes all the time, if not for the surprised faces of the rest of his team.

Including Bucky, who really should have known better; Steve decided to just move on.

“Thor, any chance Loki could help us with this?”  Everyone turned towards the Asgardian in time to see the forlorn expression appear on his face. He shook his head.

“I’m afraid that my brother won’t be of any help to us,” he replied softly. It was the first time Peter had ever heard him so quiet. “He has surrendered himself on Asgard, and has been granted solitude to repent for his actions.”

“Finally attempting to atone for New York?” Clint asked. He had been joking; the reaction from Thor wasn’t one given to a joke. He looked hesitant… _ashamed_. “Thor?”

“It… it is not for New York he wishes to atone.”

“What then?” Steve asked. Something about Thor’s demeanor told him he wasn’t going to like the answer.

“When he surrendered himself,” Thor continued, “it was on the condition that he be allowed counsel from our mother and Sif. He did not ask for silence on their parts, but his shame was so great that at first, neither lady wanted to divulge it.”

“But they did?” Peter asked.

“Aye.”

“He and his army killed thousands of people,” Bruce remarked. “What on earth could he have done that he feels is worse than that?”

“He made his affections for Lady Iron known to her; when she did not return them, he attempted to force his will upon her.” Steve’s eyes narrowed, felt his hands clench into fists.

“You mean…”

“Yes; he attempted to take control of her mind, as he did with Clint.”

The actual revelation was only slightly less enraging than what everyone expected him to say.

“When did this happen?” Steve asked.

“Shortly after you and the lady parted ways.”

“How did she stop him?”

“He was standing too close and she was able to head-butt him. Broke his nose. Sif said that Loki expected her to do more, but she just… she told him he was no longer welcome in her presence and left.”

Everyone was quiet. Clint was remembering the feeling of the spear taking him over, the cold surging through his body as it repressed all he knew and cared about, replacing it with Loki’s thoughts and desires. Toni was able to resist that. Maybe it was because of her rage over Loki’s betrayal; Toni had stood alone between the rest of the team and Loki when even Thor had given up on him. She refused to; Toni believed that he should be given a chance to repent for his actions, even if he was never forgiven for them. It was no wonder Loki fell for her… and as angry as he was, Clint couldn’t blame the demigod for being ashamed of that act of betrayal rather than his acts of violence.

“What do we do then?” Peter’s voice brought everyone back to their current situation; Toni was missing and they needed to find her. They all looked at Steve, who was looking down at the table, shaking his head.

“I hate to say it… but I think we have to talk to Reed Richards.”

The entire room groaned.


	5. Chapter 5

Getting the battery off was the greatest feeling Toni had experienced in a while. How long had it been since she'd felt so free? She wished she could say it was when she was with Steve, but she knew that wasn't the case. Instead, she thought of her first flight in the Mark 2, when she tried to touch the stars and the icing problem sent her plummeting towards the ground. The fall itself was particularly freeing; she knew how to save herself, and for once she was free to make the decision in the way she wanted. No board of directors to answer to, no stock holders to appease... just Antonia Stark, and her decision on whether she would live or die.

For once, she chose to live because she wanted to.

Agent Carter was nice enough to loan Toni a change of clothes; the skirt was a bit longer than she was used to, but overall quite comfortable.

"Thank you, Agent Carter," Toni replied with an honesty that surprised her. "This is very kind of you."

"It’s no trouble at all," she replied. "Always glad to help a fellow soldier." Toni laughed, shaking her head.

"No offense, Agent Carter..."

"Peggy."

"Excuse me?"

"You can call me Peggy, if you'd like." Toni smiled.

"All right... call me Toni, then." Peggy smiled back, nodding. "As I was saying, I'm no soldier."

"Aren't you?" Peggy asked, surprised. Toni shook her head. "A knight then?"

"What?"

"Do they call soldiers something else in your time?"

"Oh no, they're still called soldiers... I'm just not one of them."

"Then..?"

"Vigilante is probably the best term for it."

"A vigilante, really?"

"It's a long story."

"I've got time." Toni opened her mouth to protest, but Peggy put up a hand to silence her. "I'll make tea."

The tea was good; the conversation was better. Toni had never told her story to anyone who didn't know her, or at least know of her. Peggy had no preconceived notions, nothing to base an opinion on. She listened without judgment, and Toni told her everything. They both were crying by the end.

"You're right," Peggy replied, wiping the tears from her eyes. "You're not a soldier." Toni again started to say something; again, Peggy stopped her. "You, Toni, are a warrior."

"There was a noise from behind them, someone clearing their throat. Toni turned to see Steve... no. Not Steve. Captain Rogers standing in the doorway.

"Rhodes, can I talk to you?"

"Of course." Toni motioned for him to sit across from her, next to Peggy. He took the seat, Peggy passing him a cup of tea. Toni couldn't help wondering if this is something she could have had with Steve... she still could, maybe. If she ever got home, if they ever talked about what had happened between them...

"I want you with me." For a moment, Toni forgot she was in 1943, that this wasn’t her Steve Rogers. The clatter of a teacup being rested a bit carelessly on its saucer brought her back.

“You… you what?”

“I’m putting a team together,” Steve continued, pausing a moment to sip his tea. “I want you to be a part of it.”

“Oh?”

“I found a map at that HYDRA base; there were a bunch of red flags on it that we’re assuming are other bases. We’re going to take them all down.”

“Who’s we?” Toni asked. She knew the names, of course; she wasn’t sure why she bothered asking.

“Currently, myself and Sergeant Barnes. And, hopefully, you.”

“Why me?”

“Because you’re good. You’re not a soldier, but you’re good enough.” Toni grinned.

“You want my suit.”

“If I only wanted your suit, I’d take it.” She laughed, wholeheartedly in his face.

“I’d like to see you try,” she admitted. “I would pay good money to see you try.” Steve didn’t look as amused as Toni was; she didn’t care.

“You expect me to beg, Rhodes?” he asked flatly.

“I do not.” She sipped her own tea. It was good, a strong Earl Grey with a dab of sweetness. “You’ve already told me everything I need to know, save for one thing.”

“And that is?”

“When do we start?” Steve blinked in surprise. A moment later, he smiled.

“We’ll be meeting tonight at the Stork Club, 1800 hours. I’ll be talking to a few others I want with us. I want you there.”

“Then I’ll be there.” The captain looked pleased with this. He finished his tea, nodded to Peggy and excused himself. Toni poured herself a second cup of tea, pretending not to notice how Peggy was eying her.

“What did you mean?” she asked. “That he told you everything you needed?”

“He said ‘if I only wanted your suit’,” she replied, sipping her tea and burning her tongue slightly. “He didn’t try to bullshit me; he wants the suit, but he wants me along with it. At the very least, he wants us staying on good terms. I can respect that.” She started to grin. “By the way, when are you going to get on that?” Peggy somehow managed to maintain a good poker face; Toni needed to know how she did that, because a certain arrow slinging smart ass kept insisting she had a tell when they played cards.

“I don’t think I know what you mean…”

"Peg, can I call you Peg?" Toni didn't bother waiting for a reply. "We have this thing in two thousand and thirteen, it's called Eye Fucking.” Peggy blushed brightly.

“I beg your pardon…”

“It's nowhere near as disgusting as it sounds; it basically means the look one gives another when they are mentally undressing them and fucking them hard and fast over the nearest horizontal surface." She smiled rather than grinned. "You eye fuck Rogers so hard that it's almost pornographic and I can't help wondering if I should be paying for the privilege of watching." Peggy looked like she was going to argue, but instead she sighed and shook her head.

“Is it really that obvious?”

“It is to me, at least.” Toni set her cup down and chanced putting her hand on top of Peggy’s. This is what girls did, right, when they were comforting each other or at least trying to be helpful? She needed more girl friends. “Steve Rogers is a handsome devil,” she continued. “And soon, some hot girl is going to force themselves on him, and he won’t resist because he won’t want to hurt her; he’s stronger now, it could happen and he would hate himself for it.” She smiled. “He wants you though. And you want him. Get on it.”

“I… how?”

“Own a red dress?”

“Yes…”

“Wear it to the Stork Club tonight, see what happens.”

“I… I will.”

As Toni walked back to her quarters, a voice in the back of her mind _screamed_ at her, demanding to know what she was doing. Another voice, louder than the first, declared that this wasn’t the world she knew; the Steve Rogers here was not, and never would be hers.

“But you’re not even trying!” the softer voice yelled.

“I know. I don’t want to.”

“What do you mean you don’t want to?!”

“This isn’t my Steve.”

“But he _could_ be!”

“No. No, he couldn’t. He would never be _my_ Steve… he has a life here, someone he loves… I’m not going to get in the way of that. I don’t _want_ to get in the way of that.”

“Then what do you want?”

“I…” She sighed. “I want to go home.”

“What if you can’t?”

“Then I move on.”

“But…”

“No! No buts! This is _my life_. And if it needs to be different now, then it will be. I’m not Toni Stark here; my name is Toni Rhodes, and goddamn it, I decide what I will and won’t do!”

And in that moment, when the insecurities of Toni Stark fell silent…

Toni Rhodes felt free.


End file.
